Housing prices have
tremendously appreciated year-over-year and have surpassed all
median home prices for the county since 2008, closing out 2013
at five-year highs and hitting a price plateau in the latter half
of 2014. Orange County’s median home price has grown slightly
to $591,000 in December 2014, an increase of $6,000 versus the
previous month’s median and an increase of $21,000 since the previous
December. Median home prices are likely to begin 2015 at similar
levels.

Average apartment rents for Orange County have spiked with housing price growth,
with an average of $83 higher rents in 2014 compared to the previous
year’s average. The Orange County average rental rates in December
2014 are among the highest seen in 2014 thus far, with a county
average of $1,824 – just two dollars less than the high for 2014.
On a per-city basis, there was little month-over-month variation,
with Irvine seeing the highest increase of $39 since last month.

Orange County Building permit activity in October 2014 hit landmark highs with
1,892 permits granted during the month. November 2014 brought
more modest permit growth, with 712 new permits recorded in the
county for the month. Irvine led the majority of permit growth
in November 2014, accounting for 68 percent of the month’s activity.

Orange County’s median home price is compared to other regions, showing
the year-over-year and month-over-month change in value.

Source: Dataquick

Average
Apartment Rents Orange County and by Major City

This indicator shows the average apartment rent for major Orange County
cities and for the county average as a whole. The county average as a whole
is not the average of the seven cities shown in this chart but for all the
cities in Orange County.